Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Classy move by one of my favorite former WCHA players. Former Minnesota State Maverick forward David Backes has written a nice check to his former school.

Mankato, Minn. --- Captain of the St. Louis Blues and former Minnesota State Maverick men's hockey forward - David Backes - announced Monday at the school's Annual Blue Line Club Dan Meyer Golf Classic that he and his wife Kelly are donating $100,000 to Minnesota State Athletics that will serve as the lead gift in completing the David Backes Strength and Conditioning Room in the newly-remodeled Maverick Hockey wing at Verizon Wireless Center.

Backes, who has played nine full seasons in the National Hockey League, has served as team captain for the Blues since 2011. Selected by St. Louis in the second round (62nd overall) of the 2003 NHL draft, he made his NHL debut Dec. 19, 2006 when he suited up for St. Louis in a game at Pittsburgh. The Blaine, Minn., native is a two-time member of the United States men's hockey Olympic Team where he won a silver medal in 2010.

"I had a fantastic college hockey experience at Minnesota State and thanks to my coaches and support staff, I learned the value of hard work, teamwork and life skills," Backes said. "These skills helped me tremendously as I prepared for my career in the NHL. As a thank you to everyone at Minnesota State who has assisted me on my collegiate journey, we wanted to donate something back that would make a difference and help ensure the long-term success of the program."

Sunday, April 27, 2014

When the first round playoff match-ups were finally set, I knew right away that the Blackhawks and Blues series would be the best one in the first round. The teams didn't disappoint.

Game one and two opened up in St. Louis, and the fans were treated to two exciting Blues wins. It didn't get much better than game one either. In a game that would go back and forth, the fans would get their money's worth as the game would end very early into the third overtime. Alexander Steen would be the game one hero, but this game would set the pace for this exciting series.

Then came the controversy in game two. St. Louis Blues captain David Backes (Spring Lake Park, MN/ Minnesota State Mankato) would take an elbow to the head from Blackhawk defender Brent Seabrook, knocking him out for the rest of game two, along with games three and four. Seabrook wold get a three game suspension for the hit, but left both fan bases with a sour taste in their mouths. St. Louis would now be down their captain, and Chicago is out of their top defenseman.

Chicago just kept pushing forward, even though they were down 2-0 in the series, but now had the advantage of being back in the Madhouse on Madison. With Chicago looking to get into the win column, and would do that via a Corey Crawford shutout. Captain Jonathan Toews would net the game's first goal, and the game winner, just 4:10 into the first period, and the game would become a very grinding defensive battle. Marcus Kruger would get the insurance empty netter to seal the 2-0 victory

Overtime would be needed once again in game four, in another contest that could have gone either way. The Blackhawks scored the first two in the contest, Andrew Shaw and Patrick Kane, but the Blues would push back and score three unanswered and Vladimir Tarasenko putting the Blues ahead 3-2 with about 7:30 left in regulation. However, the Chicago never say die attitude kicked in, and would get a few good looks at goalie Ryan Miller before Bryan Bickell would tie the game with just under four minutes to play, and the roof went off at the Madhouse. They now had the crowd on their side going into overtime and used it to their advantage. Half way through the first overtime, Patrick Kane and Ben Smith would have a rush up the ice int the offensive zone with Patrick Kane taking the puck up the left wing. Smith would charge the net, drawing the defenders off of Kane so he could take the shot, and he buried it for the winner in another very exciting game in the series that is now tied and headed back to St. Louis.

The story line for game five would be the return for Blues captain David Backes after missing the previous two games due to injury after the Seabrook elbow. Probably not playing at 100%, just having the presence of your captain in your line up can be enough to spark a locker room. That's exactly what the Blues needed after losing two straight in Chicago. Once again, this game would take overtime to find a winner in this very tightly battled series. Once again, the Blackhawks would look at their captain to come in clutch in overtime. Toews would get sprung on a breakaway and would slide the puck behind Miller to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 series lead, and put them in complete control going into game six.

Today's game was just straight up Chicago Blackhawks domination once the third period came around. Bryan Bickell and TJ Oshie would exchange goals in the first and that's the score that would hold up until very early in the third period. The Blues completely outplayed the Blackhawks in the second, but most of that was due to the Hawks penalty box door being open the whole period, but couldn't find a way to put the puck behind Crawford. At the end of the second, the Blackhawks would finally get their first power play opportunity, which would carry over to the start of the third. Just 44 seconds into the final frame, who else, but Jonathan Toews would light the lamp and put the Hawks up 2-1. There was no looking back from there. Chicago would rattle of three more goals off of the sticks of Patrick Sharp, Andrew Shaw, and Duncan Keith, to solidify a 5-1 game six victory and a 4-2 series win.

If I got anything out of this series, is that the Blackhawks have their playoff form from last year. This team is dangerous and has all of the tools for a repeat. The Hawks can sit back and relax for a short time and see whether they draw the Wild or Avalanche in round two.

As for the Blues, a lot of people thought that this was a team that could go deep into the playoffs this year, especially after how strong they were in the regular season, and in games one and two. However, late season injuries, and a semi struggling Ryan Miller cost the Blues and sent them home to the golf course earlier then they would have liked.

Overall, this was a very exciting, physical, fast, and skillful series to watch and will be one that is talked about for years to come. A bounce here or there, and St. Louis could be headed to round two, or at least to game seven back home in their barn.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

s/t to Kukla's Korner. At about the 45 second mark of the video, you can hear an unidentified Blackhawks player say "wakey, wakey." That's low class and bushleague. I didn't catch the comments the first around. Oh boy, this series could get really nasty.

Thursday, March 06, 2014

St. Louis forward David Backes runs over Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne. Depending on your perspective. Nothing like going hard to the net. The boxscores reads after the play was over (see below).

LeBrun: All 700-plus NHL players are not here in the Olympics. What's always intrigued me is the idea of how rank-and-file players who never get to play in the Olympics really feel about shutting down the game for the Olympics and whether their input is heeded.

Fehr: We do, we do [ask them]. It's no secret, there are three things that go on: There are players who play; there are players who, even if they're not playing, hope that in the future they will, or players who did in the past and think it's a good opportunity for current ones to have. The second thing is, guys like the time off; they like to see their families; they like to do that. And the third thing is, there's at least the opportunity for some nagging injuries to heal. That's not so bad. But to answer your question more directly, as far as the players' association is concerned, this decision will be made by all 720 to 750 players -- it's not made by a small group.

Well, technically it is doping, though, isn't it? The acceptable level for the substance pseudoephedrine in an athlete's body for in-competition testing is 150 micrograms per milliliter, and officials said Sunday that Backstrom's level was around 190. But there is a precedent for players being allowed a test again if that threshold is breached

Check out this gamer from the new beat writer for the UMD Bulldogs Rick Weegman. (click to view)

Monday, December 23, 2013

Don Cherry talks about this in this past week's Coach's Corner. Don Cherry said, "Act like you scored before." There's not reason to fly by the benches and high-five. ... Teams like the Wild and the Blues are starting to discontinue the practice and I think it's a good idea.

Dan O'Neill, Post Dispatch --- Perhaps you noticed during the last two games, wins over Nashville and Winnipeg. When the line of David Backes, Alexander Steen and T.J Oshie have been on the ice for Blues’ goals — and that has been the case on six occasions — there has been no skate to the bench for a Conga line of high-fives.

There has been the traditional raised arms, the traditional hugs and smiles among those involved. And there has been a return to positions for the drop of the puck. In short, the Blues act like they’ve been there before, and aspire to be there again.

“That came from a few gentlemen who used to play here,” Backes said. “They felt like the going through the line thing was a high school, college type of play.

Friday, April 19, 2013

This is one of the hits in the NHL last night, that got a little bit of scrutiny, St. Blues forward David Backes blasts Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Ekman-Larsson from behind. Backes received a two minute penalty for boarding on the play.

This is a dangerous hit, these are the types of hits that the NHL is trying to remove from the game of hockey. I can't believe that Backes was the only one that got a penalty out of the scrum. It also appears, that the hit on Ekman-Larsson was in retaliation for a hit earlier in the game, that went uncalled.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

St. Louis Blue fans can rest easy, now that the Blue have signed "one" of their leading scorers former Fighting Sioux forward T.J. Oshie to a new five year deal. Last season, Oshie tied for the team lead with 54 points.

With the signing, Oshie also avoids having to go to an arbitration hearing that was scheduled for Friday. According to Andy Strickland, beat writer for the St Louis Blues, Oshie's salary is worth 4.175 a season for five years for 20.875 million dollars. That's a pretty healthy raise for Oshie who had signed a one year deal last summer that paid him $2,350,000.

This is often nothing more than simple protocol to protect a player’s rights. Oshie, who tied Captain David Backes for the team lead in scoring, enjoyed career highs last season in goals, assists, points, penalty minutes, and games played. His 19:31 minutes per game were second among Blues forwards while leading the way with 1:48 per game shorthanded. He also averaged over 2:00 per game on the power play.

Considering Oshie’s versatility it’s hard to put a number on his actual value. He does much more than what you find on the scoresheet and head Coach Ken Hitchcock has referred to him as one of the better defensive forwards in the NHL today. With that being said he’s also among the Blues more talented offensive players as well.

Monday, April 30, 2012

We could run through a plethora of cliches but there is an old saying, get off the track if you don't want to get run over by the train. Former Fighting Sioux forward T.J. Oshie absolutely runs over L.A. Kings forward Dustin Penner with a legal green light hit. There is no reason for the Kings forward Mike Richards to jump Oshie because this is is a text book clean hit, there is nothing dirty about this hit.

Backes had the highest average ice time per game among forwards (19 minutes 59 seconds) on a Blues club that allowed the fewest goals in the NHL by a wide margin. The six-foot-three, 225-pound centre was a punishing physical presence, doling out a team-leading 226 hits to join Los Angeles forward Dustin Brown as the only players to record 200 hits or more in each of the past five seasons.

Backes led the Blues in faceoffs, blocked shots and posted a plus-15 rating. The Blues captain is an NHL trophy finalist for first time in his seven-year career and is the first Blues player up for the Selke since Michal Handzus finished second in 2000.

Bergeron led the NHL in plus-minus (plus-36) and posted a plus-18 rating both at home and on the road in helping the Bruins rank second in the Eastern Conference in team defence (2.39 goals-against average).

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Wow! This was one of "the" highlights from last night play in the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs. Check out the unbelievable moves by former Fighting Sioux forwawd T.J. Oshie as he assisted on a goal by former MSU Maverick David Backes. The Blues beat the Sharks 3-0 to even their series 1-1.

Saturday, April 02, 2011

Congrats to former MSU-M Maverick David Backes on getting his 100th career goal. Watching the goal it looked like who's who of college hockey alums, David Backes MSU, T.J. Oshie UND and Kevin Shattenkirk from BU.

Sunday, November 07, 2010

Let me preface this with I am a Bruins fan, I also have to admit that admire the way that David Backes plays the game of hockey. Let's look at this hit, its a text book legal shoulder check. Breaking it down further; Backes puts an awesome, legal and violent check on the Bruins Marc Recci, who gets up and skates away. The problem I have is why should Backes have to fight? It wasn't charging, Recci wasn't hurt and it wasn't a dirty hit.